Heat Haze! Start On A Journey. Love,
I Won't Be Far From You!
This episode opens with parallels being drawn between Susano-oh
and Kusanagi: Susano-oh's mitama glowing and Kuanagi's mitamas going out
of control and then Susano-oh falling and crying in pain and Kusanagi doubling
over and crying in pain as well. He falls over in a fountain, smoke rising
from his overheated body, and remembers his last encounter with Kaede. He
murmurs her name softly. He knows that he must face his past, that he must
finish things once and for all....
The story abruptly switches to Momiji. She awakens in the middle of the
night, her mitama burning - she calls Kusanagi's name. In the meantime, Murakumo
and Kaede decide to test the growing power of Lord Susano-oh to see if he is
strong enough to perform the ritual of Tamefuri and so they pick a target:
some place that can be isolated and cut off from the rest of the world.
Now the city
of Kogure is under siege by some unknown force. A dome of energy surrounds
the city, cutting it off from the rest of humanity. The next morning, the
TAC arrives, puzzled by the impenetrability of the dome. It even
withstands the explosion of one of Kome's missiles - nary a blemish appears upon
impact.
While the TAC are discussing ways to try to get inside, Kusanagi is approaching
the outer perimeter. He puts his hand out and the shield is parted like a
curtain. He calls Kaede's name once more, telling her that he is
coming. Further away, Momiji senses Kusanagi's presence and realizes that
he has gone inside. She chases after him, running towards the dome.
As she nears the barrier, she disappears, and the TAC realize that it was her
mitama that allowed her entrance.
Inside the dome, things are quiet: the streets, the shops, the playgrounds, the
traffic tunnels; all are empty. Momiji runs through a traffic tunnel
calling Kusanagi's name, trips and falls and finds herself locking gazes with a
black cat sitting just a feet away from, a mitama in it's left eye. She
turns and looks behind her. The tunnel is now filled with the glowing eyes
of cats covering not only the ground, but the walls and the ceiling of the as
well. She screams and runs.
Meanwhile, further in the city, Kusanagi finds himself in a dreamworld which is
centered around his obsession for Kaede. She tempts him to stay there with
her, and he pushes her away, telling her that it's not real. He manages to
resist her, pushing her away, but then the scene changes and she becomes a
child, and he finds he can no longer resist her pleas not to leave her alone.
He reaches to take her hands but is stopped at the last moment when he hears
Momiji calling his name. Her voice breaks the spell and he finds himself
in the real world again, standing in the shadow of a giant Aragami cat.
A short battle ensues in which the giant cat's claws meet
with his flesh ripping across his chest, and Kusanagi gets in one blow,
causing the giant cat to disintegrate, breaking down into the thousands of
cats that have fused together to make it. Kusanagi passes out and Momiji
runs to his side.
The next scene takes place in a deserted building.
Momiji is bandaging Kusanagi's chest and when she slips and causes him pain,
he begins lashing out at her, calling her stupid for following him and telling
her that there's no guarantee that they will be able to get out. Momiji
looks away and acknowledges that she's stupid, and then goes on to pour her
heart out to him, telling, or more like yelling, that she has to worry about
him all the time. While she is going on and on, Kusanagi turns and looks
at her, trying to get in a word edgewise but is unsuccessful. It isn't
until the end of her tirade that he takes action. When she yells that
she loves him, but that he doesn't care, he calls her name and embraces her,
surprising her into silence. After the embrace, he asks for a little
time and promises that when everything is over, that he'll come back for her.
The the cats reappear and begin fusing together, lunging in
an attack and pushing him out the window. When he lands he's back in the
dreamworld, and when Momiji rushes outside to find him, he's
disappeared. Trapped once again, Kusanagi now has to battle himself to
save Kaede to find that he is still trapped, and Kaede tells him he can never
escape from this world of demons because he doesn't want to escape from
her. She asks him why they can't go back to the way things were
before, when he was protecting her. He tells her that he still is
protect her and pushes her away, and then cuts her in half with his blade,
freeing himself from the vision so that he can now see the demon cat and
destroy it as well.
This episode ends with Momiji remembering Kusanagi's words
and promising to wait for him, while trying not to worry. She only
wishes he would come back to her soon....
